Retreats are a great way to deepen one’s reflective practices. The fourth retreat at Manresa in the past two years, made me remember the yesteryears and the previous Buddhist Guided retreat in Barre-Massachusetts on Mindfulness of Death (Feb 2024). 

Barre Centre of Buddhist Studies -BCBS- Each retreatant had some volunteer duties. Being an early riser, I used to ring the wake-up bell in the morning. Feb 2024

Fellow retreatants shared their experiences with different retreats, the nuances between a 12-step retreat, an Ignatian retreat and a guided spiritual retreat for self reflection.

Manresa again

The tail light meditation, gratitude meditation for the highway 401, and remembering when meditations kept me going for the 90 minute rush hour drive from Burlington.

Tail light meditation : Meditate on the tail lights of the vehicles ahead. This is a mindfulness exercise which helps feel grounded, be calm during traffic snarls and helps connect with the common humanity of the fellow travellers on the rush hour

Gratitude meditation for the highway: sent gratitudes towards the persons who helped build and maintain the highways and the service persons who maintain safety.

Remember when: As I passed Leslie street, Victoria Park, remembered the teachers, fellow students, with whom I practised and studied towards getting regulated health licences in Ontario.

Nuances of a Previous Retreat: Barre-Feburary 2024: The Obituary discussion

As part of my reflections at Manresa, after going for a walk in the labyrinth, doing grounding meditations (focus on breathing, body scan, awareness of thoughts, feelings) I went through the notes of the Mindfulness of Death retreat facilitated by Nikki Mirgahafori which I attended in February in BCBS-Barre Centre of Buddhist Studies 

One of the exercises was to write an Obituary and then discuss in smaller groups and the larger group as appropriate. The obituary can be an official style facts based one, or a heart style what mattered one or a today-as this is it.We were then to say it aloud and then reflect upon how this experience was for us. What we learned about ourselves, society, and did sharing the Obituary cause any shift, connection with the group.

My experience , memories of letters, walks in Delhi Gardens

This exercise led me to the memory of letters, and how writing letters has been a way of life for me. I was introduced to the world of letters by my grandfather -Ganesh Prasad Uniyal (GPU) in the mid 1970s. Over the decades letters have helped me shape my perspectives, feel the presence of others, honour the patience and persistence of persons who helped shape me. In the Obituary discussion- I wrote an open letter to Humayun Tomb, where I have spent many lovely hours, reading, reflecting. 

See blog: Squirrel Friends at Humayun Tomb-June 2014-

https://prashantbhatt.com/2014/06/04/squirrel-friends-at-humayun-tomb/

Debrief tool

Holding space, quietly letting the monologue of the share end, give feedback in a grandmotherly way and remember that this could be you, were the four suggestions the facilitator gave the retreatants.

Holding space: Imagining the last day to be in the beautiful retreat centre made one connect more with nature, the seasons and the rhythm of the day

Quietly letting the monologue end  and then feel the shift in energy, be aware of the joint energy of the group and let the feeling of a joint journey be more present.

Feedback in grandmotherly nature– is a loving kindness exercise, which helps see the causes and conditions which made the person who they are. It also deepens one’s understanding of our own roots, the factors and forces which shaped our previous generations. The feedback gave me a moment to pause and recognize how little I know about the other cultures, their geographies and previous generations and a need for cultural humility, cultural growth and awareness of gaps in cultural competence.

Remember this could be you: In my case, I talked about Humayun Tomb letter, and also remembered persons who passed away before their time, the pain it caused to their parents. This was one of my formative childhood memories, and while discussing the Obituary exercise, those memories came back.

In next blog, will discuss nuances of how a Retreat can be a place to deepen step work.